Insidious Attack
by snapple79
Summary: Someone plans an attack with dire results. Will Sam and Andy be able to put the pieces together before it's too late? AU that takes place in S5 (post 511).
1. Chapter 1

This story took a different turn after I started writing it that I didn't expect, but I really like how it turned out and I hope you do too. It started as a one-shot, but I've broken it up into two chapters. Please let me know what you think with a review! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

* * *

 **Insidious Attack -** **Chapter 1**

In the early hours of the morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise over Toronto, a figure melted into the shadows within the police station putting a plan in motion. Slipping into the women's locker room, the person picked a lock exposing a freshly cleaned uniform. A gloved hand pulled out from the bag they carried a towel that had been prepared the night before, and rubbed it over every inch of the inside of the black clothing. Submersed in copper sulfate and dried, it was in diluted form, but they knew it would still have the same effects on the intended victim.

When they were finished, the uniform was adjusted on its hanger, and the locker was closed and locked, just as if it had never been touched. With an evil smile, the towels and gloves were stuffed into the bag, excited about what was to come. With silent footsteps, the figure escaped through the dark shadows knowing someone was going to pay.

* * *

It had been three days since the bomb went off and the station was still pretty much a crime scene. Evidence for other investigations still needed to be salvaged, and evidence that might help in the bombing was being collected as well. An entire section of the station was off limits until further notice, but life went on as usual.

During Parade on her first day back, Andy sat on a table in the back of the room next to Sam. She sipped the coffee he'd handed her when she walked in the room, and they listened to Oliver's announcements for the day. "You ready to be back out there?" Sam asked when Oliver dismissed everyone.

"The ringing in my ears stopped and I feel good, so yeah, I'm ready. Don't worry." She leaned in for a quick peck on the lips before hopping off the table.

"Okay, take it easy though. No heroics," he said, as her partner for the day called out to her. She nodded as she backed out of the room to meet up with Gail on the way to their cruiser.

An easy day was pretty much the opposite of what Andy and Gail ended up having. They responded to call after call, mostly minor incidents, but it lasted until early afternoon without a break.

"God, can't they make uniforms that breath better?" Gail whined as they made their way to their latest call on the unusually warm spring day.

Andy was uncomfortable too - and shifting around, she felt her shirt feeling rougher than usual; she'd have to talk to the dry cleaner about that - but she simply laughed off Gail's complaining.

"No, seriously, I'm sweating like a pig in this thing," Gail said.

"Let's just get this call over with and then head back to the station for a bit," Andy suggested as they pulled up to their destination.

They were taking statements for a parking lot fender bender when Andy noticed she was having trouble focusing and found herself feeling woozy. She rested her hand on one of the cars to steady herself.

"Hey, Andy, you okay?" Gail asked from where she was talking to one of the drivers a few feet away.

Andy nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." She went over her driver's statement again, correcting some of what she'd already written down incorrectly.

When the drivers were sent on their ways and the officers got back into the cruiser, Andy leaned her head back and angled the pathetic air conditioning toward her face.

"You don't look so good, Andy," Gail commented, seeing how sickly her friend looked.

"I probably just need to eat something," she replied. They hadn't stopped for lunch and coupled with the heat, Andy figured it was just getting to her today.

By the time they were back at the station, Andy was feeling a little better and headed to the break room with the sandwich they'd picked up after the last call. Not having the energy to find Sam, she texted him once she sat down.

A few minutes later, Sam walked in and took a seat next to her. He immediately noticed something was up. "You feeling okay?"

"I think the heat got to me or something. Busy day, hot, no lunch. I'm fine though," she replied, trying to convince herself as much as him.

"Okay, try to take it easy the rest of the day," he suggested.

"We have so much paperwork to do, I'll be lucky to finish it by the end of shift even if I start now, so I'll be chained to my desk." Andy's eyes drifted to the two men walking down the hallway past the break room. "Why is he even still around? I don't have a good feeling about him."

Sam followed her gaze to see Inspector Jarvis and Commissioner Santana talking. "I don't know, but Oliver said he's here all hours of the day and night."

"You don't think he suspects, you know, what you're doing, do you?" Andy asked concerned. She knew what the commissioner was capable of and was worried he'd set his sights on Sam if he learned the detective was poking around.

"I haven't dug deep enough yet. But do me a favor, stay as far away from him as you can, okay?" Sam's face took on the most serious look she'd seen in a while, so she knew he was truly concerned. "If he does get wind of anything, I don't want him taking it out on you to get to me."

Andy nodded, showing she understood. "I don't get a good feeling with him lurking around the station."

"I'll talk to Oliver, see if he knows how long he'll be hanging around. In the meantime…" he said, standing up. "I gotta get back to work." He leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her lips.

"Sam." She stopped him as he started to walk away. "I know you think you're invincible and everything, but you be careful too around the commissioner."

Sam gave her a tight smile, knowing he'd do his best, but in the end he was just asking for trouble digging into the commissioner's activities surrounding the bombing conspiracy. They both knew it, but they also believed it was the right thing to do.

Andy continued with the rest of her shift, working on the paperwork for the numerous incidents she and Gail were called to. She didn't feel that bad when she was sitting, although her eyes would go blurry once in a while and she'd have to force herself to focus again. It was starting to scare her a bit, but she didn't want to overreact when it was probably nothing.

When her shift was over, Andy couldn't wait to find Sam and go home. She wanted nothing more than to cuddle up with him tonight. After changing out of her uniform, Andy walked up to the detective's office to unfortunately find the only person she had no interest in talking to.

"He went to talk to Steve Peck about a case. He should be back soon," Marlo told her as Andy perched herself on Sam's desk.

"Thanks." She could've gone to wait for Sam in his truck, or grabbed a coffee in the break room, but she sat there, staking her territory at her boyfriend's desk. She recalled a documentary she'd caught Dov watching where bears scratch trees and pee around their cave or nest to mark their territory. Andy held back a chuckle, imagining what she was doing was similar in some odd way.

Andy knew that Marlo was ordered to stay at 15 Division until the bombing investigation was complete, but it didn't mean she had to like it. Even if she and Sam were in a good place now, she didn't want Marlo ruining any of the progress they'd made the last few months. She was trying to believe it when Sam said their honeymoon phase wasn't over.

Andy's frown turned into a smile when she saw Sam walking her way. "Hey, you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yup!" Sliding off the desk, Andy got dizzy and lost her footing. Sam quickly reached out to grab her to prevent her from collapsing to the floor. "Wow, I, uh, don't know what happened," she said, rubbing her forehead. "Got a little dizzy."

"Could be some temporary vertigo from the bombing," he suggested.

She leaned against him, hoping the room would stop spinning. "The doctor said there could be some residual effects in the inner ear from the blast. I haven't felt this until today though."

"Let's get you home, see how you feel after dinner and a good night's sleep," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Yeah, I'd like that," she replied, letting him guide her out of the station.

An hour later after Andy showered and relaxed as Sam heated up leftovers from the night before, she felt like a new person. The next morning Andy woke up feeling refreshed and ready to take on a new day. To be on the safe side though, Sam convinced her to talk to Oliver about putting her on desk duty for the day.

While Sam and Andy were laughing over their morning coffee, someone was lurking in the shadows of the women's locker room. They repeated the same actions as the day before, rubbing a layer of copper sulfate onto the inside of a uniform. And taking it a step further, a black t-shirt that had been soaked in the poisonous chemical and dried, replaced the one already hanging neatly in the locker. As quietly as the person entered, they left without being seen.

* * *

Oliver agreed to take Andy off patrol for the day. She caught up on some paperwork and helped Traci search through some old case files for a connection to a current case. Her symptoms started to surface again a few hours into the morning, so Andy tried to take it easy and not let it show that she was struggling.

"How are things with Sam?" Traci asked as the two sat at a conference table, sifting through old files.

"Things are good, really good," she replied.

Traci could see something on her friend's face that told her she wasn't telling her everything. "What's wrong?"

Andy gave her friend a confused look, but gave up when Traci kept staring at her with doubt. "It's nothing. It's stupid and I'm probably crazy."

Traci quirked her eyebrows. "If it's bothering you, it's not nothing."

With a small sigh, Andy put down the file she held. "Sam and I are great. It's not like before, and we know what we want. I'm happy. _We're_ happy."

"But…"

"But...But, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, for something to go wrong. I'm waiting for what's going to try and tear us apart next," Andy admitted.

"Given everything you've been through, it's not crazy to worry about that," Traci said, trying to comfort her friend.

"I love Sam with everything and I _know_ he loves me. But it feels like things are too good to be true after everything we've been through," she said.

"Just enjoy it. Don't worry about what tomorrow might bring," Traci suggested.

"It's that easy, huh, Trace?"

"It is." Andy smiled at her friend, hoping she was right.

* * *

By the time afternoon rolled around, Andy and Traci were ready for some coffee to help them through the rest of the day. Andy bumped shoulders with another officer as she made her way to the coffee machine, and that was all it took. She lost her balance and as the room started spinning, Andy fell to the floor, hitting the back of her head on a chair as she went down.

"Andy!" Traci was kneeling next to her in a second. "Are you okay?"

"I, uh, I don't...don't know what happened," she stuttered as her friend help her sit up.

Sam, who was down the hall, had heard Traci's worried voice, and ran in their direction. He found Andy sitting on the floor looking confused. "What happened?" he asked, crouching in front of her.

"I slipped or something, I think." Andy rubbed the back of her head, trying to ease the stinging.

"She hit her head when she went down," Traci told him.

"Did you get dizzy again?" he asked, rubbing a hand up and down her arm comfortingly.

"I guess so, I'm, uh, I'm not really sure what happened. I was coming in here with Traci to get coffee and then...the room was spinning and I was on the floor," she explained. Sam and Traci helped her stand up, and Andy swayed back and forth before leaning against Sam as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I had a friend, I don't think it was ever this bad for her, but she found herself getting dizzy and lightheaded at the beginning of her pregnancy," Traci said, offering one possible explanation for what Andy had been experiencing. "Is it possible…?"

"No, I mean, we're not...No, it can't be. Pregnant?" Andy wasn't sure if she was worried or relieved that could be the reason for her symptoms lately.

"Whatever the cause, I think we need to get you home and make an appointment to see the doctor," Sam suggested.

Andy nodded, feeling unusually shaken up by her fall. "I'll just go change."

"I'll help you," Traci offered, and Andy let herself be transferred from Sam's hold to Traci's.

Sam sent Traci an appreciative look. "I'll go let Oliver know, grab my stuff and meet you at the locker room."

Half an hour later they were getting into Sam's truck. "What Traci said...We're careful, but it's not impossible," Andy said before worrying her bottom lip.

"You wanna stop on the way home to pick up a test?" he asked, glancing at her as he pulled out of the parking lot.

"At the very least, we can rule it out, right?" She pushed out a nervous laugh.

An hour later, Andy came out of the bathroom and sat beside him on the bed. "We have two minutes."

"Whatever it says, we'll deal with it," he told her. At one point in his life, the idea of having a child would have been the biggest disaster he could think of. He used to think that his upbringing prevented him from wanting to be a father, let alone thinking he could even be a good one. He didn't know how or exactly when, but something changed. Andy changed him into a man who looked forward to raising his own son or daughter someday. If that day was today - a bit sooner than he may have expected - he'd be okay with that.

"I don't even know what I want it to say. I mean, I should want it to tell us we're not pregnant, right? We're not ready. We haven't even talked about this stuff," she said.

"Have you ever thought about it?" he asked.

She turned her head to face him and the look in his eyes told her he had. That brought her some relief, and she nodded. "It terrifies me, but someday, yeah, I want kids, a family. And I can't imagine doing any of that without you."

Sam cupped her cheek and his thumb caressed her skin. "Good, because I want that too. With you."

"You're not scared though?" she asked.

"Terrified," he said with a chuckle. "But, you and I can do anything together."

"I love you," she whispered as she closed the distance until their lips met.

As they pulled apart, Sam tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "If we're having a baby, we'll figure it out."

Andy glanced at her watch. "Time's up."

"What are we looking for?" he asked as they walked into the bathroom together.

"Two lines means we're having a baby. One, we're not," she replied, looking over her shoulder at him. He wrapped his arms around her waist, unconsciously resting a hand over Andy's stomach.

Andy took a deep breath and picked up the stick. She didn't expect the disappointment that pinged her heart when there was only one line. She shook her head and looked at Sam in the mirror. "One line. I'm not pregnant."

Sam pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "When the time is right, we'll fill a house with kids."

Andy couldn't hide her grin as she turned around in Sam's arms and draped hers around his neck. "A house full, huh?" she teased.

"However many you want," he said, smiling back at her.

"Let's see how much I hate you after giving birth to the first one," she teased. He hugged her even closer as she buried her face in his neck, both needing a moment to process all that had happened.

When they were in bed later that night, Andy rolled on her side and traced patterns with her index finger on Sam's bare shoulder. "I was thinking…"

"That you should sleep," he quipped, as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Ha. No. That if we're talking about how many kids we're filling a house with, that, uh, maybe I should have the key to your house." She knew this was an apartment and not a house, but she hoped he understood and remembered their conversation from days ago.

He rolled his head to face her. "Really?" She nodded and Sam didn't hesitate, flying out of bed to grab the key where he left it in a box on his dresser. Climbing back into bed, he laid on his side and held the key out between them.

She wrapped her hand around his. "And if you get a cat, I'd be more than happy to come feed it."

Closing the distance between them, he covered her lips with his own. Andy hummed in contentment, but quickly rolled Sam onto his back. "You still wanna sleep?" she asked with a mischievous grin as she straddled him.

He pulled her t-shirt off as he shook his head. "What do you think?" He flipped them over, and the key he'd just given her was soon lost somewhere in a pile of clothes.

* * *

A figure sat in their car, after finishing the now daily ritual with Andy's uniform, and watched a laughing and smiling Andy get out of Sam's truck. A moment later Sam pulled Andy close and they lost themselves in a kiss. It was impossible to hear what they were saying from within the car, but the bystander found them too happy. At the very least she should be severely sick by now. The copper sulfate was taking too long to cause the serious effects of mercury poisoning. Plan B was going into effect. Andy McNally would be dead by tonight.

"Sam, come on. We're already going to be late," Andy pleaded, as she tugged him toward the door of the station.

" _You're_ the one who said we had time for round two, _darling_ ," he teased, not at all unhappy _that_ was their reason for being late.

"Yeah, well, you're not the one who's going to be stuck on desk duty when I'm late for Parade," she retorted.

"C'mon," he said, opening the door for her. "I'll tell Oliver it's all my fault."

Andy made it to Parade with seconds to spare, but found she was still put on desk duty. Oliver had heard about her dizzy spell the day before and insisted she get a clear bill of health from a doctor before returning to patrol.

She was in booking with Chris for the day and made it through a couple hours before she started feeling lightheaded. She fought through it, just like she'd been doing, and decided she was glad her doctor's appointment was scheduled for the next day. She just didn't know what was wrong with her.

It was early afternoon when Chris returned from locking up a suspect and found Andy staring absentmindedly at her computer, and looking pale. "Andy, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should go home," he suggested.

Andy gave her friend a small smile. "Oh, no, I'm okay." A minute later she started feeling nauseous on top of everything else. "On second thought, um, will you be okay for five minutes? I need to get some water and use the bathroom."

"Yeah, go ahead. I'll be fine here," he replied.

Someone had been lurking around the station all day, waiting for the right time. As Andy walked toward the locker room, they saw an opportunity. Following her in, they checked to make sure no one else was around, before taking hold of their gun and hiding behind a set of lockers. They waited until Andy came out of the bathroom and went to wash her hands. A second before the butt of a gun was hit hard against the back of her head, Andy saw her attacker in the bathroom mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

Some guest reviewers like to assume where inspiration comes from, however, I wrote most of this before any promos for S5b came out. In fact, the inspiration was simply a movie where copper sulfate was used to poison someone and I started thinking how Sam and Andy would deal with something similar.

I think some of you have guessed who Andy's attacker is and if you haven't, you'll find out VERY quickly in this second (and final) chapter. But it's more than just about who the attacker is, it's about why, and what Sam and Andy now have to go through. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please let me know what you think with a review. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue.

* * *

 **Insidious Attack - Chapter 2**

Sam hung up from a phone call and wondered how Andy was doing. He'd checked on her at lunch, but a few hours had gone by since then and he needed a break from the case he was working on. He made his way to booking, but found Chris alone.

"Diaz, where's McNally?" he asked.

"I don't think she was feeling well. She said she needed a few minutes," Chris replied as he glanced down at his watch. "Oh, wow, but that was nearly half an hour ago."

Sam pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit the button to call Andy. When it went to voicemail, Sam got worried. "McNally, it's me. Call when you get this."

"If you see her, let her know I'm looking for her," Sam told Chris before leaving booking. He searched the locker room first, then the break room, and even the empty interrogation rooms, thinking she might've wanted to find someplace quiet. He quickly searched the rest of the station and checked to see if she was sitting in his truck, but nothing.

Sam tried calling her again as he headed back to his desk, but only got her voicemail. He was really worried now. All he could imagine was her collapsed somewhere, needing help, and him not being there for her. He pulled up a program on his computer that would triangulate a cell phone's location and entered Andy's information. New software they were testing pinpointed locations better than ever before and he hoped it was accurate this time. He soon found himself staring at a radius that was centered around a familiar address, the home of Marlo Cruz.

As he tried calling Andy again, Traci sensed something was up. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"Andy's missing, she's not answering her phone, and her location is showing up as Cruz's house," Sam quickly explained.

"Why would she be there?" Traci asked.

"She wouldn't be, not willingly at least." Sam had nothing concrete to go on that Andy was in trouble, but his gut was screaming out to him. "Something's wrong. She's in trouble. Tell Oliver. I'm heading there now."

Without waiting for a response from his fellow detective, Sam grabbed his keys was flying out of the station. He dialed Andy's number again as he jumped into his truck and sped out of the parking lot.

* * *

Marlo dragged an unconscious Andy from her trunk down the stairs to her basement. She put her in a metal chair and removed her uniform shirt so there'd be more skin for the copper sulfate to directly come in contact with. Marlo then secured Andy's ankles to the chair, and pulled her arms behind the chair, tying them together and handcuffing them to a metal bar on the back.

Marlo put on thick plastic gloves and dragged two large buckets of copper sulfate next to the chair. Taking her time, she rubbed the poisonous chemical all over Andy's arms, neck and face, and although it wouldn't have as much of an impact, she rubbed it all over her clothes as well. Now she was ready for the end of Andy McNally to commence. She swung hard and fast, backhanding the side of Andy's face to wake her up.

Andy yelped in pain as it jolted her awake. She didn't know where she was or what was happening. Her head was spinning, she felt like she wanted to throw up and her vision was blurry. She saw someone standing in front of her and after a few moments was able to focus enough to see that it was Marlo. That's when she flashed back to being in the locker room and seeing Marlo behind her in the mirror.

"What are you doing?" Andy managed to squeak out of her dry throat.

"Isn't it clear? I'm getting you out of the way so Sam won't be distracted by you," Marlo responded.

Andy was so out of it, she thought maybe she hadn't heard Marlo correctly. But then she saw the blue granules of something all over her body and she began to move around, trying to shake it off. "What did you do? What is this?"

Marlo laughed at the fear she saw in Andy's eyes. She reached into one of the buckets and let the granular crystals fall through her gloved fingers. "This is copper sulfate. It's a common chemical used for agriculture, but it causes mercury poisoning when ingested or absorbed into your body. It can give the appearance of a very accidental death though." Marlo thought about shoving it down her victim's throat right now, but wanted to make this slow and painful.

Andy felt herself being pulled further under, but was fighting hard to keep focus. "Why? Why are you doing this?"

"BECAUSE!" she screamed. "Sam loves _me,_ and without you around he'll realize that."

"Marlo, you don't want to do this. Sam would never forgive you for killing me." Andy tried tugging at her wrists, but knew that especially with her strength diminished she had no hope. She was also starting to feel more groggy, and lightheadedness was starting to make her head bob around as she tried to stay conscious. Marlo was spewing words, but Andy couldn't make them out anymore.

That is until Marlo thrust an image in front of her. " _This_ is why he'll forget you even existed. I'm pregnant. I'm giving him a son. We're going to be a family."

It took everything Andy had to see more than a blur of colors before her and realize Marlo was holding a sonogram image. She couldn't control the tear that escaped down her cheek. "No," she breathed out.

Marlo cackled at the weak protest and stuck her hands in the copper sulfate again, bringing handfuls to layer over Andy's arms again. "He's mine. He'll always be mine. And fate has gifted us with baby boy to celebrate our love."

Tears streamed down Andy's face now, a combination of the idea Sam fathered someone else's child and the fear that she was near death with no one even realizing she was missing. Her skin burned and she could feel the chemicals seeping into her system. But she knew she had to put up a fight. She pulled and tugged at the restraints on her wrists, if for no other reason than to show there was some sort of struggle when she was found dead.

"He doesn't love you. He never will," Andy spat out. " _I'm_ the one who makes him happy. _I'm_ the love of his life. You will never be."

That earned her a hard slap across the face. "Shut up! Shut up!"

Andy had been a cop long enough to know being nice wasn't going to work with someone as unhinged as Marlo, so she became the antagonist. "What, can't stand to hear the truth? Can't stand to see how in love Sam and I are?"

"Stop! He loves _me_! Shut up!" Marlo began pacing around and Andy could tell she was getting more and more frantic.

"You must see it." Andy's head was pounding now on top of everything else, but she pushed through all the pain and grogginess she felt to keep going. "Back at 15 for what, uh, a week? You see how he looks at me, how he holds me, how he kisses me. That's _me_ he's doing all that to. Me. Not you."

Marlo whipped something out of the back of her pants and it took Andy a minute to realize the blurry blob in front of her was a gun being pointed at her face. "Shut up!" Marlo screamed. "Shut your mouth! Shut up!"

Andy closed her eyes and tears streamed down her cheeks. This was it. She'd pushed Marlo too far. There was nothing more she could do. _I love you, Sam, more than anything in the world_ , she thought.

It was at that moment Sam burst through the basement door, slowing his movement as he reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Marlo pointing a gun at Andy. "Put down the gun," he yelled as he took a step toward Marlo.

Andy blinked her eyes, furiously attempting again to clear her vision to no avail. But relief swept through her knowing Sam was here. He'd found her, like he always did.

"She needs to go away," Marlo cried out as she waved the gun around. "We need her gone, Sam. Don't you understand that? She needs to die."

Sam tried to assess the situation quickly. Andy was in rough shape; there was something covering her whole body and he could even see it stuck in her hair. He had no idea what it was, but by the looks of her, it wasn't good. Her face was pale, her eyes were bloodshot, her skin was red with irritation. And there was Marlo, who was clearly off her meds, pointing a gun to his girlfriend's head. When he watched her take a step forward, he wasn't going to hesitate when it came to Andy's life.

"Stop. Don't move another inch," he said sternly, his voice raised.

Andy heard Sam cock his gun and knew she had to warn him. If there was even a chance the woman was pregnant with his child, Andy couldn't let him kill her. "Sam….Sam, don't shoot her. She's...she's pregnant."

Sam was stunned at the words and tried fruitlessly to calculate how long ago it was that they'd had sex. His mind couldn't focus though and his thoughts were interrupted by Marlo's voice.

"It's true sweetheart." She released one hand from the gun to rub her stomach. "A little boy. And I just want us to be a family." Her smile changed to anger as she looked back at Andy, shaking the gun at her. "But we can't with _her_."

"Hey, hey…let's just calm down, okay?" He slowly slid his gun into the holster at his hip as he tried to send Andy a message with his eyes. He didn't know how coherent she was given how her head was bobbing and her eyes seemed glazed over, but he had to try and let her know what he was about to do.

Facing Marlo again, he took a step toward her. "The three of us can be a family, just us. I want that too." Marlo looked over at him, surprised, and he knew he had her attention. "But you don't want to kill her. She dies and they'll send you to jail. Our child will be born in prison."

"But with her around we can never be happy," Marlo whined.

Sam was inching closer and closer as he spoke softly and calmly to hold Marlo's attention. "I'll take care of it. It'll be just us, I promise."

"Really? We'll be a family, just us," she said, her face softening as her hand holding the gun absentmindedly began to lower.

"Just us." Sam saw an opportunity and reached out quickly to grab the gun out of her hands. He tucked it in the back of his jeans and quickly grabbed hold of one of her hands. Slowly and quietly he pulled his handcuffs out. "You, me and our son."

Before she knew it, Sam had Marlo's hands behind her back and cuffed. "What are you doing? Sam, what did you do? You lied to me!" she screamed as she tried to get out of his hold.

Sam was relieved when Chris and Dov came down the stairs and told him an ambulance was on the way. He handed Marlo off to them, and she spewed obscenities at everyone as they dragged her up the stairs.

Sam ran toward Andy and knelt in front of her, but she stopped him before he could touch her. "Don't, it's chemicals, some, uh, some type of poison." She felt herself slipping away, but knew he could get sick too if he came into contact with it, and she needed to protect him.

"McNally…" Despite her warnings, he risked it to get her ankles and hands untied, but then grabbed a blanket from a shelf nearby to wrap around her. "Where does it hurt? Paramedics will be here any minute." She tried to shake her head, but immediately regretted it as the room began spinning harder. "Hey, hey, stay with me, okay? I got you. You're going to be okay."

"You found me," she whispered. "You're always there when it matters."

"Sweetheart…" He held the edges of the blanket and tugged her toward him so he could place a feather light kiss on her lips. "You're never getting rid of me."

Andy tried to smile, but didn't know if her lips were actually moving. There was something Sam needed to know in case she passed out. "She had a sonogram." Andy limply pointed to a table a few feet away.

Sam looked over at the table, but hesitated before standing up and walking over to it. He picked up the image and his eyes went wide. Marlo really was pregnant. He thought it had only been some part of her delusional rant, but this sonogram with her name in bold letters in the corner made it true.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Sam turned around to see two paramedics. "She's right over here," he said, tucking the photograph into his back pocket.

"Was this poured on her?" one of the paramedics asked, looking down at the buckets of copper sulfate.

"I think so," Sam replied, now even more concerned by the expressions on their faces.

"Then we need to get her to the hospital now, right now."

* * *

Several hours later, Andy lay in a quiet hospital room. She'd been showered to remove all the copper sulfate from her skin and hair, and doctors were well on the way to flush the poison from her system. Things were still foggy and her eyesight wasn't totally back to normal yet, but she was surprised at how quickly she was starting to feel better. The doctors explained that the worst symptoms are experienced as the body is absorbing the chemicals and even just showering them off her skin would help tremendously.

Andy was tired, but too anxious to sleep. Sam sat alongside her bed, holding her hand in his, with his thumb caressing the red mark on her wrist caused by the rope. They'd both been fairly quiet, lost in thought about everything that had happened.

Sam looked up at Andy, her lips curving into a smile when he realized she'd been watching him. "You know...You know I only said what I did… "

"I know," she said, nodding in understanding. "I would've done the same thing."

"I didn't mean any of it. Baby or not, I don't have _any_ feelings for her," he assured Andy. He still saw the sadness in his girlfriend's eyes that he might have fathered a child with another woman. He was feeling the same way; he dreamt of having children with Andy and only Andy. He couldn't let even the idea of Marlo having his baby put a strain on their still new relationship; he had to put an end to the wondering now.

He stood up and grabbed the calendar that hung on the wall. He furiously flipped back month after month and tried to remember the exact weekend he and Oliver had spent at the cabin. He knew for a fact from that point on, he and Marlo had barely shared the same bed, let alone had sex.

Andy watched as Sam became more and more frantic, and placed her hand over his. "We don't even know how far along she is, Sam. There's no way to know for sure you're not the father right now."

"There are paternity tests, I can get one of those," he replied, finally tossing the calendar aside.

Andy gave a small smile to a nurse who came to check her vitals, and tugged on Sam's hand until he sat on the edge of the bed. "Don't they have to wait until the baby is born for that?" she asked.

"I don't know. Excuse me, Nurse…" Sam glanced at the woman's name tag. "...Mary. Do you know how early a paternity test can be performed on a baby?"

"Oh, are you…?" Concern crossed the nurse's face as she looked over at Andy, knowing what she was in the hospital for.

"No, no, not me."

The nurse breathed a sigh of relief before looking back at Sam. "Well, they are able to do a DNA paternity test while a fetus is still in the womb. However, it is a more risky procedure than waiting until the baby is born, so the mother must give consent."

"Thank you." Sam stood up and paced the room once the nurse left, trying to work off his anxious energy.

Andy wanted to be angry. She wanted to be mad again about the year they spent apart, about how he'd moved on with Marlo and how he'd likely gotten her pregnant. She wanted to be angry that his first child would be with that woman, the woman that also nearly killed her. But watching Sam pace the room looking as anxious as she felt, she couldn't be angry.

"Sam...Sam...C'mere," she said, reaching out her hand.

He walked over and took her hand as he perched himself at the edge of the bed. "I can't go on wondering. We need to know for sure if it's mine. I need to get that test done."

She gave his hand a squeeze. "Marlo will never agree to it. She was determined today Sam. I've never seen her like that, even when she was off her meds and tracking Ford. If she knows there's a chance it's not yours, she won't agree to take a test that could prove that. She won't lose this connection to you."

Sam thought about the interrogation going on right now back at the station. Maybe he could use that to get the information he wanted. "Will you be okay alone here for a couple of hours?" he asked Andy.

"Sam, what are you going to do?" she asked, worried about what he was thinking. She tried to sit up, but immediately got dizzy.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers briefly. "I'm going to try to end this guessing game sooner rather than later. I'll be back in a couple hours, I promise."

She squeezed his hand as he stood up. "I love you."

He gave her one more kiss on her forehead. "I love you too. Try and sleep while I'm gone."

Sam took a cab back to the station and headed directly toward the interrogation room where he knew the interview with Marlo would be taking place.

"Sammy, you know I can't let you go in there," Oliver said, gently pushing at Sam's chest as he walked to the room.

"Oliver, get out of my way. This has nothing to do with the investigation. She claims she's pregnant with my child. I need to know if that's true," Sam pleaded.

Oliver stared at his friend and saw that Marlo's revelation was already eating away at him. He was probably going to regret this, but he couldn't deny his friend. "Five minutes. That's all you get."

Sam slapped his friend on the shoulder. "Thank you. Thank you."

Traci stopped mid-sentence when Sam walked into the room. He ignored her questioning look as he pulled out the chair next to her and sat down. The silence was deafening as Sam took a moment to compose himself. He pulled the sonogram image out of his pocket and tossed it on the center of the table. "Is this baby really mine?" he finally asked, his voice displaying a calm that betrayed how he was feeling deep inside.

Marlo leaned back in her chair, looking at him smugly. "We had sex. I'm pregnant. It's your child, Sam."

He still felt she wasn't giving him a truthful answer. "I don't buy it. We haven't been together in a long time. Maybe you don't know who the father is, but it's not me."

"Are you calling me a whore? Think I sleep around?" Marlo screamed, moving her hands so the metal cuffs clinked against the table.

"I think you've had plenty of time to tell me I'm the father before now, before you kidnapped my girlfriend, so call me suspicious," he said, his restraint falling apart. "You didn't return my calls after I was shot. You've been back at 15 for a week and never said a thing. So, excuse me if I don't believe a word coming out of your mouth." He pushed back the chair he sat in, scraping it loudly across the floor, needing to put more space than there already was between him and his ex.

"Sam..." Traci warned, before nodding toward the door. Sam reluctantly followed her as she walked into the adjoining observation room where Oliver stood.

"I've been in there for the last half hour with her Sam. Antagonizing her isn't going to get you answers," Traci told him.

Sam turned to the window, watching as Marlo held the sonogram and ran a finger back and forth over the image as she stared at it. "I'm open to ideas, Nash," he said, facing her.

"I think I have an idea to get what you want, Sam, to get what we both want," she said, looking between her fellow detective and their boss.

"I'm listening, Nash," Oliver prompted.

"The mental state Marlo is in, combined with her past crimes and her bi-polar, she'll never be put in prison. She'll be confined to a mental hospital. We could drop the charge down if she's willing to get the DNA test now and give a full statement for what she did to Andy. She'd still be charged with kidnapping and drugging Andy, so she'd get what she deserves, but we'll all get the answers we need," Traci explained.

Oliver thought about it, weighed the pros and cons, and couldn't find any fault in his detective's thinking. "Do it."

Sam watched through the glass as Traci went back in and spoke with Marlo, finally breathing a sigh of relief when Marlo took the deal.

"We'll need her to sign her statement, but I'll have her brought to the hospital the moment that's done," Oliver told his friend.

"I just, _we_ just need to know. I don't think it is, but…"

"Look, go back to McNally. You need her as much as she needs you right now. And you'll get your answers soon enough," Oliver said. "It's going to be alright."

Sam rubbed a hand across his face. "I want to believe that."

"How's McNally doing?" Oliver asked.

"She's weak from the mercury poisoning and they're still flushing it out of her system, but the doctors say she'll be fine," Sam replied. "They said we got her to the hospital before severe damage was done to her liver or kidneys."

"She's a fighter. You're both fighters. And you'll get through this," Oliver told him.

"I need to get back to her. Call me if anything comes up," Sam said before walking out of the observation room. He grabbed some clothes out of Andy's locker and headed back to the hospital in his truck.

* * *

When Sam got back to the hospital, he found Andy sleeping so he quietly pulled a chair up next to her bed and sat down. He took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb softly across her knuckles. That's how a nurse found them about 20 minutes later when she came in for her regular check on Andy's vitals.

"How's she doing?" Sam asked softly.

"We're pumping fluids into her as fast as possible to help wash out the chemicals and it'll take some time, but she's looking good," the nurse whispered.

Sam brought his eyes back to Andy's sleeping form in front of him. He couldn't believe that she'd survived a bomb a week ago, only to be put in the hospital because she was poisoned by his ex. He guessed if they could handle multiple near death experiences between the both of them, they could find a way to handle him being the father of Marlo's baby. It crushed him to even think it was a possibility though.

He'd been telling Oliver the honest, but scary, truth all those months ago when they'd gone to the cabin. He pictured a future with Andy and their kids running around the park on Sundays. Years ago he'd never imagined having a family, but Andy made him want that life. He didn't want a child with Marlo, but he knew he could never abandon his son. If it was indeed his, Sam would be there every step of his child's life. He'd find a way to make it work.

Andy felt Sam's touch as she started to wake up and she was glad he was back. As she opened her eyes, the cloudy vision gave her the impression she was falling. Her body tensed up as her arms flung around. Sam immediately jumped up and tried to calm her. "McNally...sweetheart...it's okay. You're okay."

Sitting up now, she leaned against Sam's body as he held her. The beeping of her heart rate monitor began to slow and she loosened her grip on him. "You want me to get the doctor?" he asked.

"No, no. Everything's just still spinning and foggy, like I can't clear my head," she replied.

He ran a hand down her hair as he held her close. "I'm sorry. Anything I do?"

"Help me lie back down." He obliged, lowering her gently as she kept her eyes closed to stop some of the spinning. He sat on the edge of the bed as she took a minute to try and get her brain to focus. "What happened at the station?" she finally asked.

"She's allowing the test to be done," he replied, caressing her cheek.

"She is?" Andy asked, shocked Marlo would give in so easily. She suddenly wondered if Marlo was more convinced that Sam was the father than she thought.

"Oliver agreed to drop the attempted murder charge down to a lesser charge in return for her agreeing to the test and giving a full statement," Sam explained. "She'll still pay for what she did to you, but we'll get the test done as soon as she signs her statement."

"Is it possible…? Do you think you could be the father?" Andy asked, not being able to stop the tears from filling her eyes at how scared she was at what it would mean for her and Sam. She wanted to be strong for him, wanted to offer words of encouragement, tell him it would all be okay. And in any other scenario she would be, but Marlo had tried to kill her hours earlier. Any strength she'd normal have to fight through this was gone.

"I think she'd have to be five or six months pregnant for it to be mine. I don't know much about pregnancy, but if she was that far along she should be showing. But I can't lie and say there's absolutely no possibility," he told her.

"I hate her. I don't want to hate anyone, but I do. She's brought nothing but trouble to our lives. I'm sorry, but I want to be honest with you," she admitted.

"It's okay to be pissed. I am. This isn't the life I imagined. It was you and me, taking trips to Oliver's cabin to make our own babies," he smirked.

She cracked a smile before getting serious again. "I don't want to be pissed. I just don't want her to ruin this," she said, waving a hand between them. "We're good and I don't want her to take that from us."

Her mind kept going to the worst case scenario. If Sam was the father, he'd get full custody with Marlo getting put away for what she did. Andy would be forced to raise another woman's child, a woman who tried to kill her. The first baby she'd care for wouldn't be hers. Yes, the child would be half Sam, but the boy would always be a reminder of the messes they made with Marlo and Nick; something they had truly moved past. "I, uh...I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to help you raise Marlo's son."

A tear slid down Andy's cheek and Sam brushed it away with his thumb. "I love you. You are the most important person in the world to me. That is _not_ going to change whether or not this baby is mine. We will find a way to make it work, that we _both_ are comfortable with. I don't have the answers now, but you and I, we will find a way."

Andy reached out and rested her hand against his cheek, the growing stubble there tickling her palm. She was terrified, but believed in Sam. They'd been through too much to let a baby derail them. If he believed they'd find a way, she would put her trust in him. "I love you. And nothing that happens will change that."

Sam's phone beeped, and he pulled it out to read a text from Oliver. "They're here."

"Go. I'll be fine. If they'd let me, I'd come with you, be right by your side through this," she told him.

"I don't know how long this will take, but I'll be back as soon as it's over." He hesitated a moment, tucking hair behind her ear before he stood up. He wanted this test more than anything, but it didn't mean he wasn't scared about the answers it would give him. Giving Andy a small smile, he left the room and headed to the maternity ward.

* * *

"How long will it take to get the results?" Sam asked after filling out all the paperwork for the paternity test.

"It can take anywhere between two to four days, but we've been instructed to make sure a rush is put on this," a nurse told him as she made some notes on his chart. "Taking the samples will only take a few minutes."

Sam watched the nurse swipe the inside of his cheek and take blood that would soon confirm if he was the father of Marlo's baby. The reality of it was hitting him hard. The idea he would be tied to Marlo forever, that his first child would have her as its mother. All he had wanted with Marlo was something uncomplicated that would take his mind off Andy. Instead he nearly risked his and Andy's careers, and they both nearly died because of her. One meaningless relationship had become the single most complicated thing, and biggest regret, in his life. He felt sick over it.

He was glad when the nurse said he was done and he could get out of there. He knew Marlo was in the room next to his and when he walked into the hallway he couldn't help but glance through the window. Getting samples from the baby was much more difficult than what he went through, so they were still prepping Marlo for the procedure.

"They haven't started yet, so you can go in if you'd like," a nurse, who was about to walk into the room, told Sam.

"No, that's okay. I, um, I can't be here right now." He needed to get out of there. He was so angry with Marlo, he couldn't even wait around for the procedure to be over. Until he got the answers he was looking for, he wanted to be as far away from that woman as possible.

He punched the button for the elevator several times, impatient to get back to Andy. As he approached her room, he saw a nurse exiting. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

"The doctor wants her to get some sleep, so we just gave her a mild sedative. She'll probably be out until morning," the nurse told him. "There's an extra pillow and blanket on the chair if you need it."

He walked into the room and Andy looked so peaceful lying there. You'd never know she'd been in an explosion and poisoned all within a week. His heart swelled with love as he stood at the foot of her bed watching her sleep. They'd get through this; he didn't know how, but he would make sure they did.

Deciding he should take advantage of Andy sleeping and get some shuteye himself, he took a seat in the chair and propped his legs up on the end of her bed. He threw the blanket over himself, and laid the pillow the nurse had left for him against the bed, so he could lay his head right next to Andy's.

* * *

By the end of the next day, Andy was released from the hospital. She was warned that she'd be weak for several days and could still have minor dizzy spells as she continued to recover. She needed to take it easy and if her symptoms started to worsen, she needed to come back to the hospital immediately.

Sam decided to take a few days off so he could watch over Andy, and insisted she stay at his place while she recovered. They'd been home for two days when the doorbell rang. Sam answered the door to find a young man standing there. "Sam Swarek?" the stranger asked.

"Yeah, that's me," Sam replied.

"I have a letter for you. Please sign here," the man instructed as he held out a clipboard. As Sam signed his name, the man pulled a yellow envelope out of his bag. "Have a good day."

Sam noticed the hospital's return address on the envelope and tore it open as he kicked the door shut behind him. This one piece of paper would determine his fate and he felt a tightening in his chest.

"McNally," he called out.

"In here, Sam," she replied from the kitchen, where she was making them lunch. She turned around when she felt his presence. "Who was that?"

"The hospital courier," he said before tearing his eyes from the paper. All of the tension left his body as he exhaled a large sigh. "It's not...There's no way…"

Andy quickly took the piece of paper he held out to her and her eyes skimmed it for the words she was looking for. "There's no way possible you're the father," she said with a growing smile.

"She lied. She lied to use it to what, get me back?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"She might have convinced herself that you _were_ father. She was off her meds again, she probably wasn't connected to reality." Closing the distance between them, she rested her hand on his chest as his slid around her waist.

"I don't understand how someone does that." Sam rubbed a hand over his face, realizing the nightmare was over. "How she could lie and put us through all that."

"She wanted you to be the father of her child more than she wanted to face her own reality," Andy said. "And I mean, who wouldn't want you to be the father of their children. You're kind and strong and passionate and smart and caring and brave...and who wouldn't want a baby with your dimples." She smiled and watched the darkness fade from his eyes. For the first time since this nightmare started, Sam felt a weight lifted off his shoulders.

Sam cupped her cheek as he leaned down to take her lips in his. "So, you wanna have my babies, McNally." He gave a quick waggle of his eyebrows and stuck his tongue in his cheek.

"It might've crossed my mind," she said, flirty eyes staring back at him. She let him get lost in another kiss, before she pulled back so she could look him in the eyes, framing his face in her hands. "Are you okay?" she asked softly and solemnly.

"I am now." He was relieved by the news, and happy to have Andy here with him. He thought about getting away from everyone, giving them time to be together, just the two of them. "Why don't I see if we can use Oliver's cabin for a few days," he suggested. It would give Andy time to relax so she could finish recovering and it would keep them both away from the gossip mill sure to be in full force at the station right now.

"You and me in a cabin in the middle of nowhere," she said, shifting so she was flush against him as her hands slid to the back of his neck. "I'd like that."

He mumbled a "good" against her lips as he silenced any further conversation.

* * *

The End.


End file.
